The Wall
by news for parrots
Summary: JC - The Captain has a secret or two she’s not willing to share…


J/C - The Captain has a secret or two she's not willing to share…

To akot: thanks for being so supportive, and good luck with that sequel!

Disclaimer: is too long, I sum up: they're not mine. I just make my own fun.

The Wall

"Brace for impact!"

This time Kathryn was ready, steady in her chair, unlike the last time… Her mind snapped back to the last collision in one of these asteroid fields. She'd been standing when they'd arrived, and their force had launched her into Chakotay's lap. She remembered the look in his eyes (after he'd recovered from her sudden arrival). And then she'd seen the telltale signs of his wit coming to the fore. His smart remark was cut short by the pointy end of a well-placed elbow.

This time they had seen the field of piercing asteroids coming. They'd been suspicious that they were a weapon at first, but could find no evidence. The asteroids seemed to be drawn to their hull, something about the warp field they were generating. So they'd contented themselves with upgrading the shields and letting Tom prove his piloting skills once again. The bumpy ride brought her back to the present.

"Report!" She yelled over the din of the pelting.

"Hull breaches decks 14, 7, 11, 3, 4, 6, and 2." Harry responded from his station.

"In random order, Harry?" Commander Chakotay asked in as serious a tone as he could muster while laughing silently, despite the situation. Kathryn gave him a sidelong glance, wondering if he could take anything seriously anymore.

"Uh…yes, sir." Chakotay turned and smiled at the rapidly reddening ensign.

"Where is the worst of the damage?" she asked, in an attempt to get Chakotay to lay off poor Harry.

"Captain, that would be a breach on deck 2."

"The mess hall?" _Please don't let it be there._ It was middle of the lunch hour.

"Actually Captain, it looks like it's in your quarters."

"Ensign?"

"It looks like something ripped through the view port and blasted a wall out-"

"Any critical systems damaged?" She asked.

"None." Now was not the time to wonder why he'd been cut off.

Her console flashed with a message_. We left in a rush this morning._ She merely nodded, knowing he could see her.

"Any casualties?" Chakotay asked, his tone once again serious. To this Tom piped up from the front,

"None. I think everyone was sitting down this time." Kathryn subconsciously adjusted herself in her seat. She didn't dare glance at Chakotay, at the expression she knew was on his face. Her console flashed again, _I didn't make the bed, did you?_ She shook her head.

"Should I send out repair teams to the worst hit areas first?" Harry was pretty sure his Captain would want her quarters fixed no later than Now.

"Ye-" she started to answer when her console beeped again. "Hold on," Impatiently she activated the message, _We left some…things out._ Her head shot straight up, eyes locked onto his.

"No, Harry. Have the repair teams start on the lower decks and work their way up. I'll be in my ready room. Tuvok, you have the bridge. Commander." She gestured for Chakotay to follow her as she got up.

"Going to clean up the evidence, Captain?" Tom shot over his shoulder. He didn't miss a beat, and neither did she.

"Just try to fly the ship straight next time, Tom. That last trip was a little too bumpy for my tastes." With that last remark, the doors closed behind her and Chakotay.

"Yes, my queen." Tom uttered under his breath.

"What do you propose we do?" she was already pacing. He watched her for a few seconds, and promised to himself that he would not laugh, no matter what.

"I say we just let it play out." She stopped pacing long enough to glare at him. It was cute.

"You would, wouldn't you?" she shook her head at the ground. "No, I say we beat the repair team there."

"A mad dash, you say?" Not laughing was proving to be very hard. She stopped pacing and put her hands on her hips and glared at him very hard. He winced.

"We'll go in by your door." She decided.

"Lead the way." waving his long arm with a flourish toward the second door in her ready room. She huffed and set out. He smiled at her back, and dutifully followed.

Her short, little legs could cover a great distance when they were determined, especially when the goal was to hide a secret. More than one, in fact. He didn't bother to remind Kathryn of her order to Harry about the deployment of the repair teams as he jogged a little to keep up. Then a faint voice met their ears.

"We're not supposed to be doing this. We were assigned to fix that breach on deck 7."

"And we will, after we fix this one." Responded a second voice, getting louder as it spoke.

"I'm just not comfortable with this." They were getting closer.

"Relax, everything will be fine." Kathryn and Chakotay reached his door and ducked inside. She almost ran across his quarters to his bedroom. In there she quickly crossed and sealed her bedroom door with as high an encryption code as she could muster in her panic (a controlled panic, mind you). She turned and leaned against the door, finally glancing at the view port. There was indeed a small hole in the view port, with a force field in place. Glancing over the room, which was indeed a mess, there was no evidence of the asteroid. It had apparently burnt up upon entry. _Took out a wall, eh Harry?_ She thought to herself with a snort. Just then Chakotay strolled in, a smirk on his face. He raised a finger and opened his mouth just as the doors to Kathryn's quarters opened, the voices still speaking. She silenced him with a glance, and pointed at the floor. He mock-saluted her and began to pick up the floor. She pushed her ear against the door.

"So, we're here. Now let's fix the breach and go." The voice spoke in a hurried whisper.

"Relax, no one's here. There's no hurry." This voice was loud and a little over-confident. "Ever been in here before?"

"Once, to deliver a padd. Three years ago."

"What's changed?" there was a pause.

"Not much."

"I thought as much."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to get a look in here, to see if the rumors are true?"

"Which rumors?" the voice was more relaxed now, a little louder. And it sounded a little interested. So was Kathryn. She pushed her ear harder into the door.

"There's several, but I have my favourites." Kathryn waved Chakotay over to the door to listen too.

"Tell me."

"Well, there's this one I heard from someone who delivers a lot of padds here –I'm not telling who- He says that it's always like this, every time the room is exactly the same. Oh sure, she moves the coffee cups around, but she doesn't actually live here." There was some kind of noise from the other person. Chakotay smiled at Kathryn, at the theory as well as at how Kathryn was eavesdropping on her crew. But he'd tease her later; she was too focused on listening right now. "Well, he thinks that it's all a sham, that she really spends all her time in her ready room." There was a derisive snort. "My thoughts exactly. Then there's my theory."

"Oh?"

"My theory is that the Captain and Commander actually live together in his quarters."

"But that doesn't work, we all know what they do: a pat on the arm, maybe a hug, then they go their separate ways." Kathryn raised an eyebrow. Chakotay suppressed a snicker at her reaction. At that she pointed at the remaining mess with a get-to-it face, Chakotay pouted and moved away from the door.

"Yes, they go their separate ways into their quarters, which just happen to share a wall."

"Really? Which one?"

"That one, in there."

"In Her bedroom? You want to go in the Captain's bedroom?" The voices were getting louder. "Is this some kind of fantasy of yours-OW!"

"Anyway, it seems to be where the breach is. All the better."

There was a…well, a grunt from the captain's bedroom as they approached the door.

"Did you hear something? Something that sounded like Cha-"

"Ahem." The two ensigns wheeled around.

"Captain!" was all they managed to get out.

"Are these your tools to fix the breach?"

"Uh huh." said one.

"Glad to catch you in time."

"Captain?" said the other.

"To fix that breach, I'll do it for you. I've been looking forward to getting my hands dirty."

"Yes, Captain." Handing over the kit, they scooted out the door.

"Dismissed." She said at their retreating shadows. She unlocked her door, only to find Chakotay sprawled across the bed. Her composure slipped "Oh, Honey! What did you do?" He grimaced through his pain,

"I think we may have a bit too much stuff. I was trying to shut the trunk and it bit me." He held out his hand for her inspection. She scanned it with a tricorder,

"It's only a little sprained, nothing serious." She placed it down on the bed and moved to the view port.

"Still hurts." She completed her scan and pulled out a few tools.

"I'm sure it does, but I don't have any painkillers." She deftly manoeuvred the tools around and quickly had the breach fixed. She turned around, "I can, however, make it worse, if you like." She advanced on his other hand.

"No, thank you very much." He hugged his hands to his body protectively. She laughed. "The look on your face was actually quite scary. You should use it on the next unfriendly aliens we meet." She thought for a moment,

"I think I must have used it on those poor ensigns, they made the same face you did."

"And they fled in terror, didn't they? The only reason I'm still here is because I've spent years building up a resistance to it." He smiled at her to say he was joking, maybe. "Those aliens don't stand a chance." At that they both laughed. She flopped down on the bed next to him. They lay there in a comfortable silence for several minutes.

"The room looks great, by the way." She said. Chakotay propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. "What?" she asked, laughing nervously at the serious face studying her.

"I was just thinking."

"Of?" she prompted.

"Yes, our bedroom does look great…"

"…Our extremely large and spacious bedroom." She finished for him.

"Exactly."

"I know where you're going with this…"

"Eventually something's going to happen and we won't be able to keep someone from noticing that we've been…renovating."

"I know…"

"We're going to have to tell them." He said, reaching out to put his hand on her stomach.

"Yes, we will." She responded, looking into his eyes, and then placing her hand on top of his. "We will tell them. But not today, and not like this."

End.


End file.
